Officer Injured In Shootout, Gunman Killed: Baltimore Police

BALTIMORE, MD — A Baltimore police officer was injured in a shootout Sunday night downtown, and the person who shot him was killed, police reported. The officer's injuries appear to be non-life-threatening, the Baltimore Police Department said.

The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. in an alleyway on Vine Street, Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle said.

"An officer was shot," Tuggle said. "The suspect who shot the officer was fatally wounded."

Nathaniel Sassafras, 29, whose last known address was in the 1900 block of Druid Hill Avenue, was pronounced deceased, police said.

Afterward, the policeman was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, Tuggle said. By Monday afternoon, he had been released.

The policeman who sustained gunshot wounds was later identified as Officer Phillip Lippe, a three-year member of the agency assigned to western district patrol.

Officer Steven Foster, a five-year member of the Baltimore Police Department also assigned to the western district patrol, fired his weapon as well, according to officials.

Police had been in the area as part of a crime suppression initiative in various districts where there had been reports of violence. Extra officers had been deployed, and the officer was in uniform when he was shot, according to Tuggle.

"There's been a lot of violence in this area," Tuggle said, standing near the crime scene Sunday night for a press briefing before 10 p.m. "We have taken extra steps...to address the violence, and this was a part of that initiative."

Tuggle said he did not believe the suspect was the target of the investigation, but when officers came upon the gunman, the shooting occurred. He said he was waiting for additional details beyond that point.

"We're still trying to drill down on the entire situation," Tuggle said, by reviewing body-worn camera footage and other evidence in the area. "This is still an active crime scene."

Police would be there for an undetermined amount of time, at least through the morning, he said, and the agency was attempting to issue robocalls to neighbors to alert them.

"We're going to need daylight," Tuggle said. "We'll be here through the morning, I'm sure."

Authorities will provide access so that residents can get into and out of their homes, Tuggle reported.

The shooting occurred about two blocks west of Martin Luther King Boulevard and a few blocks north of the University of Maryland Medical Center campus.

Update on Baltimore police officer shot in the line of duty https://t.co/eiVWmoSknZ
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) September 24, 2018

File photo.

Still from Baltimore Police video/Periscope.

Large police presence, this is at the corner of W Lexington St and N Fremont Ave. #WBAL pic.twitter.com/N0I5gGN1GX
— Vanessa Herring (@VanessaWBAL) September 23, 2018